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Beautiful, 6-fold factory crimps on Federal #6 12-gauge and #6 20-gauge shells, and a Wolf #8 12-gauge. You can build crimps just as good looking and, indeed, to be effective you must make this part of the reloading exercise a priority.

On many ranges, the rule is that if a shell hits the ground, it belongs to the range … and you can purchase your own shells from the club. This odd rule makes it tough on reloaders who shoot semi-automatics and pump guns, especially pumps like the Ithaca Model 37 High Grade that ejects hot shells straight down from the chamber, rather than out to the right or left side. For clay shooting, a double-barrel over/under with ejectors modified to hand extract shells might be easier on the back and give you cleaner shells to reload.

A few years ago, two types of crimps were common, the roll crimp and the star fold. The roll crimp dates from black powder days. Black powder was bulky, at least compared to today’s progressive powders, and it needed all the room it could get inside a shell. Everything was packed in tightly and a small over-shot card (also called a wad) topped off a roll-crimped load. The crimp rolled the hull firmly back on itself and down to the card, thus holding the powder and shot in place.